Yusuke's Shadow resided on the third layer of Mementos, not deep within the depths but deep enough that Renko usually zoned out on the way down. Usually. Today, however…
Get off the train, Arsène commanded, spotting it almost at the same instant Renko did.
She was racing out of her seat and onto the platform in a second, the train zipping away mere moments later. She could see it right there—clear as day. The door that had been closed as long as Renko could remember—the reason she had to portal through to the trains to get anywhere in Mementos at all—it was open. Clearly, unmistakably open.
But how?
She crept over to it, half afraid it might suddenly slam closed as she approached, but… there it stayed. Open. Open as she stepped cautiously onto the other side, open as she descended the escalator. Descended to the second floor.
Trains rushed by on the other sides of the walls that closed in all around. An eerie hissing seemed to come from deep within. This was the central chamber alright—where all the lost and lonely Shadows gathered—not so corrupt as to have Palaces, but not quite resigned to the depths either. Yusuke was waiting somewhere on the layer below.
Renko glanced back up at the escalators, ascending into pitch-black darkness. The doors were open. Nausea began to choke her chest. The doors were open, so did that mean that creature—that monster—had already gotten the upper-hand? Even as she stood here, was it extending its tendrils out of the depths, waiting to destroy all she held dear? Had she… lost?
"Renko." A voice, hovering next to her, now manifested fully. "We can't afford to linger. The Reaper—"
"Damn the Reaper!" Renko snarled, whirling around to face Arsène. "The Reaper is nothing compared to this!"
"We don't know yet if all the doors are open," Arsène pointed out, his voice as cool and detached as ever. "Get on a train and ride down to the next platform. Then we can assess whether or not to panic."
It was a bit late for that. Renko was trembling, her hands cold, her breaths sharp and laboured. But Arsène was right—she had to check. No matter how terrible the truth waiting for her might be.
"Alright," she said, exhaling deeply. "Alright. Let's go."
She headed over to the walls separating the inner chamber from the trains that raced outside, then, latching onto the power she held deep within, pushed-pushed until the wall was no more—until she had enough space to leap through and—
She caught the train door, hanging on by her fingertips as it careened down the track, holding on so tightly she thought her fingers might break from the stress of it.
Then it began to slow down.
Slowly—achingly, painfully slowly—she reached for the mechanism which would release the train door, and as it clicked, quickly made her way inside—slamming it behind her with a bang!
She dropped into the nearest seat, legs trembling uncontrollably beneath her. She felt so cold, even with the weight of her cloak pressing down on her shoulders.
"Two more stops," said Arsène, appearing beside her.
Renko nodded silently. Two more stops to find out if the entire world was doomed or not.
One stop passed. Then the second.
The train rattled and screeched in the tunnel.
And then…
The train only took the briefest of pauses at the stations with the doors, but it was enough for someone like Renko to dive off in time.
And then she was standing on the platform. Staring up at a large, solidly closed door.
So they were safe… for now.
Her legs chose that moment to signal to her that that was enough for them, and she dropped so quickly she didn't quite realise what had happened until her hands caught her before she face-planted into the concrete. She was trembling. She couldn't stop trembling. Stomach-churning nausea had woven its way through her insides, and she swallowed copiously, trying her best to repress the overwhelming urge to throw up.
It was safe. The beast was still trapped. Still trapped, but…
"It has to be because of them," said Arsène, crouching next to her to offer his hand. Renko quickly took it, letting her Persona wrench her upright again. "These people might be more dangerous than we'd feared."
"No shit," spat Renko, still trying desperately not to vomit. "What were they thinking? Beginning to open up this place like this? They have to be on its side—there's no way—"
"We can speculate all we want," said Arsène, "but the truth of it is that we have no idea what their motives are. All we know for sure is that they've figured out brainwashing, took revenge on their teacher and are now attempting to do the same thing to Madarame, for reasons unknown."
"And they can open these doors," said Renko, glaring at the imposing mass.
"Yes."
Well. All the evidence suggested to her that they were on the creature's side but…
"Come," said Arsène, ushering her onto the train that had just stopped. "Let us speak with Yusuke's Shadow before we consider our next move with regard to these people."
"Alright," sighed Renko, dropping into a seat. "Yusuke first. Then the imposters."
"Exactly."
It didn't take long for the train to stop at one of the lower platforms, and Renko quickly hopped off, before making her way across to the other side and burning out the glass so she could access the inner chamber. No matter how many times she took the damned windows out they had always regenerated by the time she got down there again. So irritating.
Then it was only a quick trip up the escalator before she was on the right floor. Yusuke's Shadow was definitely lurking around here somewhere. All she had to do was find it.
Mementos was a funny place—all flickering shadows and ghostly wails, but Renko found she could usually tune it out well enough to detect the people she needed to. The huge portals that appeared in the walls whenever she got close to a particularly brooding Shadow definitely helped too.
It wasn't long before she found one she recognised.
"Yusuke lies within," Arsène confirmed, looking at the nexus of red and black energy. "Be careful, Renko. He is fragile right now, after all."
"I know," said Renko, then stepped through.
Her first thought was that Yusuke really, really wasn't doing well. His Shadow was curled in on itself, staring blankly at the floor like it held all the secrets in the world. Not a good sign to say the least. Renko carefully made her way over, trying not to startle it.
"Yusuke?" she called out, and the Shadow turned its head to look at her. Piercing yellow eyes stared into her.
"What do you want with me?" it demanded. "What sort of creature are you?"
Ah, yes, she'd forgotten the mask. She carefully lifted it, revealing her true face to the suspicious Shadow.
"It's me, Renko, remember?" she asked. This was hardly the first time she'd spoken to Yusuke's Shadow, after all.
The Shadow sighed, then pushed itself into a standing position. "Such a dreadful costume you wear," it muttered. "It reminds me of a ghost."
"I'm real enough," said Renko, drawing a bit closer. "But what about you? Not planning to turn yourself into a ghost anytime soon I hope?"
The Shadow gave a laugh that wasn't at all reassuring. "How can I go on like this?" it spat, its face contorting with pain. "How can I go on now that I know the depths of that man's depravity?"
That… didn't sound quite right.
"Has he done something else?" asked Renko.
Yusuke's Shadow gave another demented laugh, his hands covering his face, almost seeming to claw at it.
"Something else?" it muttered. "Something? Everything! Everything I ever understood about him was a lie!"
There was something dangerous in its tone now—something volatile in its yellow eyes. Renko couldn't remember when she'd last seen a Shadow so beside itself that hadn't proceeded to descend into some more monstrous form. But Yusuke's Shadow remained stable. Just.
"Calm down," said Renko, acutely aware that something must be going horribly wrong in Yusuke's psyche in real time if this was happening. "If you can just talk to me—"
"What use will talking do?" it demanded. "I'm faced with a rotten, fiendish creature that never cared for me—never cared for any of us! The only option is to-to—"
It suddenly gave a hideous howl, a sound that chilled Renko right down to her very bones, and began all at once to shift.
At first, Renko thought it was finally mutating into a monster but instead… oh.
This was far worse.
Instead it seemed to be melting—collapsing in on itself as it struggled and flailed, and all the time the screaming—the terrible screaming—blood seeped from its fingertips, and it screeched and screeched until, finally, blistering light exploded from within—blinding Renko completely.
And when she blinked her eyes open, trying desperately to see what had happened…
It was gone.
She rushed over to where Yusuke's Shadow had been, but there was no sign it had been there at all—no Treasure from a budding Palace, no nothing. Just… emptiness.
The fabric of the Metaverse around her was beginning to warp and change as the creator of this pocket dimension faded, but…
"Renko you need to leave," Arséne said, but Renko could barely hear him, even as her Persona grabbed her and began to drag her outside.
It just… didn't seem real. One moment he was there, then next he was… he was…
There was a sucking, popping sound as the Metaverse reconstituted itself where Yusuke's Shadow had once been. And now she was staring at a grimy wall. No sign he had been there at all.
He was gone.
He had seemed to be in… such agony. Did that mean…? Could he possibly have…
Arsène hovered worriedly at her side. "He seemed to be having a breakdown just as we were talking to him. It's possible he saw something that finally pushed him to—"
"Don't say it," Renko hissed, her blood pounding in her ears. "I don't want to hear it—I don't—"
"We can't discount the possibility," Arsène snapped back. "We knew he was unstable—we need to check—"
"His Shadow just vanished!" Renko roared. "We don't need to check anything—it's obvious what happened—everyone has to have a Shadow—the only way to get rid of a Shadow is to… Is to…"
Tears were running down her face, making it hard to see. She dragged her mask down to conceal it, to hide the face that had caused all this. She should have been sharper—quicker—should have tried to speak to Yusuke in person instead of going to his Shadow in the hopes of answers. And now he was…
"Renko," said Arsène, now standing next to her properly. "If Yusuke really is… dead… he's most likely still at Madarame's. He's already had at least five students commit suicide. Another, living in his own house, no less, would ruin him, especially now. We need to hurry, or the situation might become worse still."
Renko didn't want to think about it. Didn't want to consider that Yusuke, who'd been so brilliant—had such potential, if he could only have escaped—might have been snuffed out by the weight of his own despair, but… Arsène was right. If that was the case, and Yusuke was still in Madarame's house, then… the least she could do to make up for her failure was to make sure Yusuke's body found a safe resting place, and that the truth of her death was known. And then, after that… Madarame would die.
And Renko did not intend on granting him the painless extinguishing of life granted by the Metaverse—oh no. He would know fear in his last moments. He would know the same agony Yusuke must have felt at the moment he chose to suffer no more. He was just a flimsy old man, but Renko… Renko had more than enough time to plan out the perfect demise to such a wretched existence.
Step one: recover Yusuke's body.
… Madarame was going to regret ever having been born.